He came back
by Panthermonspartner
Summary: It'd been a little more than four years since they'd left; our group of friends became Magnolia's group of army wives, each of our husbands overseas. They'd promised to stay safe and come back to us, but that didn't mean there weren't now four broken families. Probably could have made this 2 or 3 chapters but it's just a oneshot, please review! Thanks!


**He Came back**

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"Happy Birthday dear Nashi! Happy birthday to you!" They cheered clapping their hands for the now four year old girl. "What did you wish for sweetie?" I asked my daughter, brushing a strand of pink hair out of her face. "To meet daddy!" Nashi said happily, smiling widely at me. I forced a smile, even though my body felt stiff. "Lucy?" Levy said softly, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Why don't we have some cake kiddo?" Cana suggested, trying to distract Nashi while Levy led me away so I could calm down.

It'd been a little more than four years since they'd left; our group of friends became Magnolia's group of army wives, each of our husbands overseas. They'd promised to stay safe and come back to us, but that didn't mean there weren't now four broken families. We really should have expected it when Mira crying at the bar that day.

"_Mira what's wrong? What happened?" I asked her, hugging her tightly, Levy and the others not far behind. "Laxus just left for the airport. He's been deployed again." She sobbed into my shoulder. This marked the third time Laxus had gone over but unfortunately he didn't have a choice. His grandfather was the general of the Special Forces division of the Fiore army, nicknamed 'Fairy Tail' due to the impossible seeming tasks and missions they took on, like they were the heroes of some fairy tale that never lost to the villain. Laxus was one of the two captains of the division. _

"_That means Erza is probably going soon as well." Cana pointed out. "You don't think they're all going do you? I mean Gajeel told me that they were only going to get deployed if there was a mission they were needed for." Levy said, getting worried. Each of our spouses had completed a special training course last year in case they were ever needed, but Natsu had assured me that unless there was some crazy mission they were needed for, none of them would likely be deployed. _

"_I'm going to call Erza and see what she knows. For all we know this could just be Laxus going to help Makarov." Cana said, trying to be optimistic. "Juvia, has Gray said anything to you about leaving?" I asked, sitting down next to Mira who had calmed down mostly. "No not a thing. Has Natsu?" She asked and I shook my head. "Okay, thanks Erza. Give everyone our regards, bye." Cana said, hanging up the phone and walking back over to us. "Okay I want you all to hear everything I have to say before freaking out okay?" She said, causing my heart to drop in fear. _

_I rubbed my slightly swollen stomach, trying to calm myself down as Cana explained. "She told me that General Makarov requested that she and Laxus go back to Fairy Tails base. She doesn't know exactly why or what's going on, but there is a chance that they could be deployed." No one said a word for a few moments, all of us trying to process what we'd learned. Ever since Natsu had told me he had joined Fairy Tail I'd been scared that one day I'd wake up and he'd be on a plane overseas and into danger. Until now I'd never had to worry. But the next day my worst fears came true._

"_It's not fair! Why do you have to go?!" I sobbed into his scarf, drinking in the familiar feel and smell of it. "Shh, it's okay Luce. We both knew it would happen someday." He tried to comfort me, stroking my hair and kissing my head. "I don't care! You can't leave! You promised you'd be here when he was born." I cried, clutching onto him as if I could keep him there. I felt something drip onto my head and I realized that he was crying to. "I'm sorry I can't keep that promise." He said softly and I could tell he was trying his best to stay strong. _

_And I was selfish myself; I could see the pain in his eyes as he pulled on his uniform a week later. I could feel his sorrow as I drove us to the airport, the entire trip silent. We met up with the rest of our friends and said goodbye. Even when we did the cliché exchange of personal items, he gave me his scarf and I gave him the golden key charm off the charm bracelet he'd given me when we started dating, our smiles seemed fake, a way to try and cover up the sadness. A call went out on the intercom and just like that they were gone. _

_For the first few months the letters and calls came frequently and it wasn't so hard. He asked how the baby was doing and how I was doing. He told me how things were going over there and the fights he got in with Gray. That made me smile, that those two hadn't changed. He even ended up keeping his promise to the best of his abilities, there via webcam when I was in the delivery room. _

"_She's beautiful Luce." He smiled widely, small tears of happiness on his cheeks. "Our Nashi." I said softly, looking at her tiny face. "You were right." I chuckled. "She was a girl." He laughed and said "I told you so." "Dragneel get your ass out here right now!" I heard a gruff voice yell and gave Natsu a sad glance, he didn't seem to hear the command though, the smile never leaving his face. "Ah give him a break Gramps; his wife just had their first kid." I heard Gray say as he walked into the room with Natsu and patted his shoulder. "Congrats man." He smiled and said "You to Lucy." I laughed and carefully grabbed Nashi's hand and made her wave at the webcam in front of us. "Wave hi to your daddy, Nashi." _

_After that the calls came farther and farther apart and the letters I received came later and later. When Nashi was six months old I learned from Mira that they'd actually begun their mission, whatever it was. Until now they'd been doing special training, practicing for this. We haven't heard from any of them since._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"Mommy mommy come play dolls with me!" Nashi said, running into my office, two dolls in hand. "In a little bit sweetie, Mommy's working right now." I said, kissing the top of her head. She frowned but said "Okay." I felt bad, but I was so close to finishing the chapter I'd been working on for weeks, I couldn't stop now. And besides I wouldn't be getting much work done for the next few weeks anyway since we'd gotten the call that they were coming back today.

The day I'd been anticipating for four years was finally here. We we're leaving to go to the airport this evening, according to the date of June 27th circled on my calendar with the excited note saying so. Nashi was just as excited to finally be getting the chance to meet her dad.

Suddenly Nashi came running back in, grabbing onto my leg and holding tight "Mommy there is a scary man coming to the door!" She said quickly and as if on cue the doorbell rang. "It's okay Nashi, just wait here. I'll be right back." I assured her, heading to the door. I looked out the small window and my stomach plummeted, on my doorstep was a man in a military uniform holding an envelope. I took a deep breath, trying to tell myself it was nothing bad; he was here to tell me Natsu got a promotion or something and had to stay a bit longer.

I opened the door and said "Hello." "Mrs. Dragneel?" He asked and I nodded "Yes? Is there something wrong?" Even when I tried, I couldn't keep myself from worrying. "My name is Alzack Conell. I am part of the Special Forces division of the Fiore army with your husband." He handed me the envelope and waited patiently while I opened and read it.

'Mrs. Dragneel, It pains me to inform you that as of 20:00 today June 13, your husband, Natsu Dragneel was deemed Missing in Action and presumed deceased…' There were more words and probably an explanation but my mind couldn't even begin to comprehend them. I was shaking as Alzack looked away and said "I'm so sorry for your loss. Natsu was a good man. He kept us all smiling when we were down. You were lucky to have him."

"Thank you." I whispered, still stunned by what was happening. I suddenly fell to my knees crying and Alzack put his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. "Mommy? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Nashi asked worriedly, coming down the stairs. I bit my lip and forced myself to stop crying and be strong in front of Nashi. "Thank you Mr. Connell. I appreciate you telling me." I said my hands shaking as he nodded and gave me an apologetic look as he walked away. "Nashi, please get your shoes on. We're going to see Aunt Aries and Uncle Loke." I told her, wiping my eyes again.

I'm not sure how I made it to Loke's apartment without breaking down; perhaps my mind just didn't fully grasp what was happening. "Lucy? I'm surprised to see you. I thought you said your editor was on vacation?" Aries said when he opened the door, assuming I had a meeting and needed them to watch Nashi. "She is." I said softly "I need someone to watch Nashi for a little bit. Something happened that I need some time to wrap my brain around." "Lucy? What's wrong? You've been crying." Loke said, walking into the room.

Aries looked nervous and took Nashi to go play while Loke sat me down on the couch. I handed him the letter that hadn't left my hand until now. "Oh Lucy." He said sympathetically as he finished reading and set the letter down, wrapping his arms around me. I started to cry again, this time not holding back at all.

Natsu was gone, he was dead, he wasn't going to come home. I would never see him again. He would never get to meet his daughter. Or see her go to school or have her first boyfriend. He wouldn't be able to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Loke just let me cry and cry, whispering soothing words and trying to calm me down. Eventually Nashi came in and climbed onto the couch and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Mommy what's wrong? I don't want to see you cry. Mommy's aren't supposed to cry, that's babies' job." She said, confused.

I tried to explain but I couldn't form the words to do so. Luckily, Loke understood and said "Your mommy just learned something very sad about someone very important to her. That's why she's sad, Nashi." "Is it my daddy?" She asked, the simple question causing me to cry harder. Loke bit his lip and said "Yes Nashi. It's about your daddy." "Is his airplane late?" She asked, that being the only reason in her mind that I might be sad. "Yes Nashi, he won't be coming home today unfortunately." Loke said. "Oh, okay. But don't worry mommy he'll come home another day. There are plenty of airplanes. He can just ask one of them to take him home!" Nashi said with a smile, her arms still wrapped around my neck.

I looked at her with a small smile and said "Of course baby, how could I forget about that." My phone rang and I saw it was Levy. She was probably wondering where I was. "I need to go; could you guys watch Nashi for tonight?" I asked Loke. "Of course Lucy. Take however long you need. We'll take care of her." He assured me. "Thanks. Nashi be a good girl for Uncle Loke and Aunt Aries. I'll be back soon." I said, kissing her forehead.

I left their apartment and answered the phone "Sorry Levy, I'm at Loke's." "Okay I'll be over in a minute." She said before hanging up. I stuffed the letter deep in my pocket, wondering what Gajeel and the others might say. Did Levy already know about Natsu? Or did they just tell immediate family like me?

Levy pulled up in front of the building and I climbed in the passenger seat. "Are you alright Lucy?" She asked, immediately noticing that I'd been crying. I bit my lip and shook my head "No Levy I'm not alright. But it's fine, don't worry about me. We'll be late." I said, looking out the window. She looked suspicious but didn't ask.

We met up with the rest of our friends at the airport, all of us waited outside of security for a half an hour until we finally saw them. I held back as my friends ran to meet their loved ones, other people smiling at the reunion. It took a few moments for them to realize I was behind. My hands clenched into fists and I bit my lip to keep tears back as they came back over. I could see it on the boys' faces that they knew, of course they knew. Levy looked at Gajeel and said "Where's Natsu, Gajeel? Wasn't he with you all?" Gajeel looked away and shook his head sadly. That was when the rest of them understood.

They gasped in sad astonishment and started to cry with me. Gray opened his bag and pulled out a small black leather book. "He told me to give this to you if something happened." He said quietly, handing me the book. "He gave us each something to pass on to you." Laxus said, handing me a folder full of what I realized were letters. "Salamander was pretty paranoid sometimes." Gajeel tried to joke, handing me the chain that held Natsu's dogtags and my key charm.

"Are any of you allowed to tell me what happened? I understand if you can't, but I'd like to know." I said softly. Laxus nodded and said "We can, but not here." I nodded and whispered "Thank you." We all headed back to the bar Cana owned that was set up for a welcome home party, but Mira called ahead and told her to hold off.

"The mission involved going undercover and infiltrating the enemy base. Dragneel volunteered to do the most dangerous part, getting close to the leader. It was going fine for a couple of years, we got tons of intel that we never would have been able to figure out, particularly from Natsu. But one day we stopped hearing anything from him, at first we assumed he just never had a chance to respond but we didn't see him around the base either. A few weeks later gramps, I mean General Makarov, told us that no one had heard or seen him at any of the other bases or camps so he was presumed dead. I'm so sorry Lucy. All of us are. If there is anything we can do"

"No I don't want or need that. I've been fine on my own for almost five years now." I interrupted Laxus. "Sorry for ruining the mood everyone. I have to go get Nashi, see you later." I said, standing up and leaving the bar. Of course Natsu would be the one to volunteer for the most dangerous part, that idiot thought he was invincible sometimes. And now he was dead because of his stupidity.

I fell into a state of depression after that. Nashi spent a lot of time with Aries and Loke while I stayed at home and cried. It was hard, harder than accepting that he was leaving. At least then I could pretend he was going to come back safe. Now, I couldn't even do that. My friends worried about me all the time, I'd get at least one call from one of them each day asking how I was doing. When I'd tell them I was okay, they knew I was lying but they wouldn't do anything, they all thought this was my way of coping. But how could I possibly cope with the fact that my husband was dead and I never even got to see him again?

What he left me didn't help either, the letters were all addressed to me and I realized that he'd meant to send them to me, one for each day he was gone, but must have never gotten the chance. The book was a journal he'd kept while over there, talking about what went on and everything they did and how much he missed me and couldn't wait to see me and Nashi. Many of the pages had tear stains now after I read them but I knew that he wouldn't have cared.

I slowly got better as the months went on until the pain I felt whenever I thought of Nat-him was just a numb feeling in my mind. My life began to return to normal. Nashi still thought that his plane was delayed and the idea that I'd have to tell her someday still nagged in my brain. Maybe I could convince Loke to do it because I doubted I would be strong enough to and might have a mental breakdown if I tried.

"Bye Uncle Loke! Bye Aunt Aries!" Nashi waved as we walked out of their apartment. "Did you have fun today sweetie?" "Yeah Aunt Aries and I made cookies but Uncle Loke ate all the dough so we just ate cookie dough and it was so good. Can we do that sometime Mommy?" She said. "Maybe, but right now we have to get you home and in the bathtub. It's almost your bedtime." I smiled. "Can I have a bubble bath? Pretty please mommy?" She begged. I chuckled and said "I don't see why not."

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away." My daughter and I sang while she played in the bathtub. "Mommy when I'm a mommy can I sing that song to my baby like your mommy did for you and you do for me?" Nashi asked. "Of course baby, I bet they'll love it." I smiled, popping a bubble that had landed on her nose. I wrapped her towel around her and dried her off when I heard the front door open.

I froze in fear and said "Nashi stay right here and don't make a sound. Understand?" she nodded fearfully as I quietly left the bathroom and looked around for something to use as a weapon if need be. One of the old pans Nashi used in her play kitchen was the best I could do, but it would have to suffice. I gulped and started down the stairs slowly, ready to attack if I needed to.

But the pan clattered to the floor as my hands went to my mouth in surprise seeing who was waiting for me. "Yo Luce." He grinned at me, but I barely saw it due to the tears in my eyes as I ran to embrace him. He held me so tight that normally I would have complained but I didn't care. For minutes we didn't speak, simply holding each other and crying in joy. He leaned down and kissed me as lovingly as he had on our wedding day. "I can't believe it." I whispered when we finally pulled back for air.

"You're alive. I thought I'd never see you again." I whispered as he kissed me again to shut me up. "I'm here Luce. I'm alright. I'm safe. You don't have to worry anymore." He rested his forehead against mine and wiped my tears away with his fingertips. "They said you'd died. That you volunteered for some dangerous mission and they didn't hear from you for weeks." He kissed me again and said "I already told you I'm fine, you weirdo." He teased lovingly with a smile on his face.

"Mommy?" I heard Nashi ask, sounding a bit worried. Natsu's eyes widened and he said "Is that?" "Yes, that's our little girl. Our Nashi." I smiled. "Everything's alright sweetie. Why don't you get your pjs on and then come down here?" I said. Natsu looked amazed and excited "I can't believe it. We have a daughter. We have a little girl." I laughed and said "You saw her being born you idiot." "It's still hard to believe." He chuckled.

Nashi started down the stairs but looked nervous seeing Natsu, he was a stranger to her, she had every reason to be nervous. She slowly came down and hid behind my leg, looking up at him. Natsu looked like he was in awe and was about to cry. He crouched down to her level and she took a step back from him. "It's alright Nashi." I assured her. "He's your daddy." I smiled widely. Nashi blinked and looked up at me in disbelief.

"Hey kiddo." Natsu grinned, holding his arms wide as Nashi ran into them yelling "Daddy!" He hugged her tightly and I felt a few tears of joy run down my cheek. We we're finally a family, after four and a half long years, the Dragneel family were finally together.

Natsu explained to me that night what had happened; though technically he wasn't supposed to he did anyway. It turned out that when he disappeared to Laxus and the others, it was because he was still doing the same mission, just a more in depth part that none of the rest of them could know about, therefore they were led to believe he had died. Makarov was the only one who knew the truth. I wasn't the only one who'd been led to believe the worst, the whole rest of their division was as well, but that thought didn't really matter to me. All that mattered was that he was back.

The next morning we had breakfast as a family as Natsu told Nashi stories, probably exaggerated, about his 'adventures'. When they finished he told us to wait at the table while he went to get some things. I wasn't sure what he could be talking about but I waited nevertheless. A few minutes later he came back with a stack of boxes. "What are those Natsu?" I asked curiously. He grinned and made two stacks. "Your birthday and anniversary gifts." He said, pushing a stack of two boxes towards me, both quite small. "And Nashi's birthday gifts." He said, pushing the other two towards Nashi.

I just looked at him, stunned and confused. "Well what are you waiting for Luce? Open them." He grinned. I blinked but complied opening the smallest box first, inside was a ring with a beautiful red gemstone on a gold band. "Natsu, it's beautiful." I gasped, sliding it on my finger above my wedding ring. "One of the villages I was in is known for making jewelry using that kind of gem. I thought you might like it." I opened the other box and found a matching necklace. "Help me put it on?" I asked and he complied, clasping it around my neck. "It's so pretty, mommy." Nashi said. "Happy anniversary and birthday, Luce." Natsu smiled, kissing me softly.

"Now you open your gifts baby." I smiled as my husband and I pulled apart. She did as suggested and was rewarded with a pair of handmade dolls, a man and a woman; the woman had blonde hair and brown eyes and the man with pink hair and black eyes. "Are those us?" I asked, looking at the dolls. Natsu nodded and said "In one of the villages I helped an old woman carry water to her home from the well and she offered to pay me but I refused. So she begged me to let her show me her gratitude some way, so she made these dolls based on my descriptions." He grinned.

Nashi hugged him tightly and said "Thank you daddy, I love them. Now they can play with my other dolls." She smiled and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the play room while I cleaned up breakfast. I followed them up and for a few hours we played dolls and house with Nashi. Until I heard my phone ring and saw it was Juvia. "Natsu, did you tell anyone you were back?" I asked, realizing it suddenly.

He smiled guiltily and said "Hehe, whoops." My eyes widened and I said "Nashi can you get your shoes on please?" Then I answered the phone. "Hi Juvia, no time for explanations, tell everyone to meet at Cana's as soon as possible. It's important." She seemed confused but didn't say anything before agreeing and hanging up.

As we pulled up to the bar I saw everyone's cars outside and said "We're the last ones here, perfect." I grabbed Nashi's hand and I felt Natsu's fingers intertwine with mine as he grinned at me. "You do realize Gray is going to be furious with you." I teased. "Yeah and I can't wait to punch him in the face." Natsu smirked. I rolled my eyes with a smile and said "Nothing ever changes does it?" He laughed and lifted Nashi onto his back before pushing open the doors.

Natsu and the others went off to war two more times but never for as long as the first time. I don't think anyone knows for sure how much impact they had on the war but that wasn't the important part. To me the most important thing was that he kept coming back. No matter when he left or what mission he did, he always came back to me and back to our family.


End file.
